India and Greece: Millennia-old dialogue between two civilisations

Since childhood, we have started learning about the Indian and Greek sages, from Kautilya and Manu to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In antiquity, both countries had magical and universal shared values of time, space, ideas, and philosophies.

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis was on a state visit to New Delhi and was also the chief guest of the well-known Raisina Dialogue organised by the Observer Research Foundation, a Delhi-based India’s premier think tank.

PM Mitsotakis came to New Delhi along with the business delegation for the two-day visit starting February 21. This was the first head-of-state visit from Greece to India in 15 years. The last prime ministerial visit from Greece to India occurred in 2008, when former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis visited India.

PM Mitsotakis’s visit came after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Athens on August 25, 2023, at the invitation of the Greek prime minister. Modi’s visit to Athens filled the 40-year drought of bilateral visits from the Indian side in 2023. The last prime minister’s visit to Greece occurred in September 1983, when Indira Gandhi travelled to the country.

Sharing traditions across cultures

Since PM Modi came to power in 2014, India has thrived on multiple fronts, including cultural and civilisational fronts. The inauguration of Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya, the renovation of Kedarnath temple, the Kashi corridor, and many other historical, cultural, and civilisational values, symbols, and institutions have been created, renovated, and promoted by the government.

Indian society, like Greece, has many things in common, including community values, shared beliefs, and respect for the ancient past. New Delhi and Athens have multiple things to be proud of: history, ancient trade, culture, family values, welfariasm, and strong societal values. We can learn so many things from each other in multiple sectors, especially where we have shared beliefs. Currently, more than 12,000 Indians live and work in Greece. During Modi’s visit in August 2023, he interacted with the Indian diaspora, where the famous songs of Shahrukh Khan’s movies were sung.

Building bridges

In the past, following India’s nuclear tests in May 1998, when most Western countries were contemplating sanctions against India, the Greek defence minister visited India in December 1998. The visit was important because it was the first defence minister from a NATO country after the tests, and it signed an MOU on defence cooperation.

In defence, high-level dialogues and MoUs are at the ministerial level. India-Greece defence cooperation gained momentum after 1994 ministerial visits, leading to a 1998 MoU. Interactions were limited to occasional ship and aircraft visits until 2017, when renewed engagement included joint exercises and industry participation.

During the February 2020 DefExpo at Lucknow, a high-level defence delegation led by Lt Gen (retired) Theodoros Lagios, (HAF) Director General of the General Directorate for Defence Investment and Armaments, participated.

According to the OEC website, in the last 26 years, Greece’s exports to India have increased at an annualised rate of 8.98 per cent in the economy, from $36.3 million in 1995 to $339 million in 2021. In 2021, India exported $1.43 billion to Greece. However, the annual bilateral trade between the two countries is very low.

During the COVID emergency, like many countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other countries, India gave them help; the Indian government also shipped critical health emergency equipment to Greece. Greece imported, as emergency medicine, five tonnes of hydroxychloroquine in its fight against COVID-19 in the last week of March and 300 kg of chloroquine sulphate in April 2020.

When the COVID cases spiked in India, the Greek government quickly donated 90 oxygen cylinders with a total capacity of 440 litres and some medical protection devices, masks, gloves, etc. to India through the EU, according to the statistics of the Ministry of External Affairs. The real test of friendship lies during the emergency crisis, and we have seen that both countries helped and supported each other during the pandemic.

Cooperation for modern world

The Indian Unified Payment System has gained appreciation from many countries, which allows for a friendly cashless payment system that is very easy to use. About seven countries have started using this UPI QR code-based payment system in their countries. Indians can also avail of this system at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Greece can also avail of this system, which will not only help the citizens of Greece pay their bills very easily without any problems but also boost the state’s tax revenue. This will be one of the most significant tools for a transparent taxation system.

Tourism can also be a major attraction since both countries have the most ancient symbols, architecture, and many things to say, especially in the philosophical domain. Almost all of my college professors once visited Greece, where the ancient sages were born and studied. Similarly, Greek citizens should also visit famous places like Khajuraho, Taj Mahal, Ayodhya, and Kashi, where there is a belief that the human body is born and dies in the same place. There can also be educational tourism between both countries.

Unfortunately, I had never been in touch with any Greek students or scholars except once when the Greek chair at Jawaharlal Nehru University organised some events in the past.

Indian ayurvedic medicines and yoga could significantly contribute to Greece if cultural exchanges deepen. In the modern world, mental health issues such as hypertension and depression can be healed with the adoption of the yogic lifestyle in Greek society. Indian yoga and medicine are free of charge and extremely sustainable for any society.

In conclusion, India and Greece should start talking in the civilisational sense since both are ancient and living cultures. We should create platforms where Indian scholars, scientists, professionals, defence personnel, and ministries can engage on different social, political, historical, and civil issues. We need civilisational talk.

The visits between the two prime ministers in both countries help develop this mechanism where we can use our ancient past, our philosophies, and family and cultural values to make the world’s society more resilient, peaceful, and prosperous. In this case, the past can help us improve our present and dignify our future.

The author is a PhD candidate at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.